Conventionally, this type of paint film transfer device is constructed as shown in FIG. 23 (a), (b). Specifically, a transfer head 04 includes a tape presser 04A with a tape pressing surface 04a having approximately the same width as the transfer tape, and a pair of left and right side plates 04B for contacting and limiting sideways movement of a transfer tape portion contacting this tape presser 04A. Further, tip end surfaces 04b of the two side plates 04B are disposed in positions displaced upstream of the tape pressing surface 04a of the tape presser 04A with respect to a tape feeding direction.
This conventional paint film transfer device cannot limit, by contact, sideways movement of a transfer tape portion lying between the tip end surfaces 04b of the two side plates 04B and the tape pressing surface 04a of the tape presser 04A. Consequently, the transfer tape portion tends to move sideways relative to the tape pressing surface 04a when a sideways moving force is applied to the transfer tape. The relative sideways movement between the two pans may result in a displacement of a transfer position.
As a method of eliminating such an inconvenience, it is conceivable to extend the respective tip ends of the side plates 04B to an imaginary straight line extending in the direction of width of the tape through the tape pressing surface 04a of the tape presser 04A, so that the tip end surfaces 04b of the two side plates 04B and the tape pressing surface 04a of the tape presser 04A define a continuous plane in the direction of width of the tape.
In this case, however, the tip end surfaces 04b of the side plates 04B project to positions laterally outwardly of the tape pressing surface 04a although the transfer tape fed from the case may be guided to move to the tape pressing surface 04a while preventing its sideways displacement. Where, as shown in FIG. 24, a superposing transfer is made over a receiving surface A and a paint film 02a already transferred to the receiving surface A, a pressing force is applied to the case 01 to transfer a transfer paint film 02a of transfer tape 02 while compressing part of the transfer tape 02 and already transferred paint film 02a. If, at this time, the force is applied toward the transferred paint film 02a to tilt the case 01 in the direction of width of the tape toward the transferred paint film 02a (in the direction of "a" in the drawing), the corner edge of one of the side plates 04B projecting to the position laterally outwardly of the tape with respect to the tape pressing surface 04a cuts into the transferred paint film 02a. When the case 01 is moved in the cut-in condition, a new inconvenience arises in which part of the transferred paint film 02a is scraped off in stripe form. Incidently, reference 02b denotes a backing material.
On the other hand, a technique for improved transfer efficiency in which a pivot type transfer head is oscillatably connected to a main body of a transfer device is known from Patent Publication No. 3-11639 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,687).
With this technique, however, it is difficult to avoid nonuniformity of transfer when the transfer head is run in a tilted condition or where the surface is unsmooth in the tape running direction, since the transfer head fails to contact the transfer surface steadily due to lack of a restoring force of the transfer head. Moreover, in the case of superposing transfer, there arises an inconvenience that, due to the lack of restoring force of the transfer head, the transfer head is somewhat tilted forward to scrape off a transferred paint film with an end surface of the transfer head.
Furthermore, a technique in which a transfer head is elastically deformable is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,976.
However, although this technique is capable of following broadly undulating surfaces, it cannot follow fine irregularities, hence a difficulty to avoid nonuniformity of transfer.
Thus, the conventional paint film transfer devices are not necessarily easy to handle from the point of view of transfer efficiency.